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Vol. 2, 7, No. 14 Tuesday, February 7, 2012 Vol. 7, No. Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Wildrose favours Northern Gateway BY MICHELLE PINON Editor
"We should be proud of where we come from and what we do here," says Shannon Stubbs, who was raised on a farm near Lamont. Stubbs, the Wildrose candidate for the riding of Fort SaskatchewanVegreville was referring to the proposed Northern Gateway Pipelines project, during a constituency visit with party leader Danielle Smith last week. Both Stubbs and Smith travelled to the starting point for the proposed project near Bruderheim, and both publicly spoke about the importance of increasing bitumen upgrading in Alberta, and expansion of its markets into Asia. Stubbs says the two issues of more pipelines and more upgrading are inextricably linked. "It's critical for Alberta to diversify our energy export markets. From experiences that happened with BSE, Albertans know it isn't a good thing to only have one customer for our products. It's the same with energy. So Gateway is necessary to get our petroleum products to the Asian market, where demand and consumption are set to outpace the United States." She went on to say that Bruderheim and Fort Saskatchewan are extremely important communities to the
Wildrose candidate Shannon Stubbs says there's a “critical need" for Alberta to diversify energy markets
Shannon Stubbs, left, local Wildrose Party candidate for the Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville constituency was out with party leader Danielle Smith last week at the starting point of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline Project near Bruderheim. provincial economy, and to the rest of Canada. "I'm glad this project puts Bruderheim in the spotlight and reinforces the Heartland Region's national and international significance." If approved, Gateway will provide both short
and long term local jobs for construction of the pipeline and continued operation and maintenance, adds Stubbs. "We will also get spin off benefits for local small business owners in the service and supply sectors, as well as hotels and motels, restaurants and
bars, grocery stores and gas stations. These kinds of projects always lead to more job and economic stimulus for surrounding communities." There will also be significant benefit to local, provincial and federal governments, added
Stubbs, which means "more revenue for priorities like health care, education and long term care. "The total local, provincial, and federal government tax revenues during 30 years of operations will be approximately $2.6 billion, including about $36
million per year estimated to be paid by Northern Gateway as local property taxes." Given a wider perspective, "There are estimates that about 5,500 person years of onsite employment will be created during the construction phase in both Alberta and B.C., and approximately 1,150 longterm jobs will be created to operate the pipelines and marine terminal." Stubbs has been door knocking in Bruderheim and Fort Saskatchewan in recent weeks, and says local residents want more bitumen upgrading and refining here so we can get the most out of our resources. "They want the pipelines so we can export more petroleum products, particularly Gateway, so we aren't dependent on one customer. "That's why Wildrose supports identifying both regulatory and tax incentives to spur increased upgrading and refining, as well as new pipelines to get our petroleum products to market. We need to have a regulatory regime that strikes the right balance between establishing an attractive investment climate to increase upgrading and refining facilities, supporting environmental stewardship and reclamation around oil sands development and protection for landowners when these projects are pursued."